Crossword Genius

Strongly disapprove of part changing hands after actor Johnny's quietly sacked (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

deplore

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'strongly disapprove of' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'part changing hands after actor johnny's quietly sacked' is the wordplay.
'part changing hands' becomes 'lore' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'actor johnny' becomes 'depp' (I've seen this in another clue).
'quietly' becomes 'p' (p for piano and quiet).
'sacked' is a deletion indicator.
'depp' with 'p' taken away is 'dep'.
'lore' after 'dep' is 'DEPLORE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for deplore that I've seen before include "Express strong disapproval of (something)" , "Regret, censure" , "Regret deeply and strongly disapprove" , "Lament" , "Express disgust at" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.